


Guarding Your Heart

by Savageseraph



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Castles, Celebrations, Dancing, Duty, F/M, Hiding, Kings & Queens, Knives, Leadership, Magic, Party, Princes & Princesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-08 16:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1134952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savageseraph/pseuds/Savageseraph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a fine line between courage and recklessness in matters of the heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guarding Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for [](http://mirime-vy.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://mirime-vy.livejournal.com/)**mirime_vy** who wanted Swanfire and royal balls.

Emma inched along the narrow ledge that ran along the castle walls just above her balcony. The stone was cool against her back, the wind tugged at her hair. Her mother would be less than impressed if she knew her only child was a single slip away from a messy end on the cobblestone courtyard below. Maybe, Emma thought, that was exactly why she was doing it instead of getting dressed for the ball. As soon as she reached the iron ladder the servants used to get to the roof to clean the chimneys, Emma started to climb.

At night, the castle’s roof was one place Emma knew she wouldn’t be found. At least not right away. With the view of the Enchanted Forest that the roof provided, Emma didn’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to sit with their back against a chimney and watch the moon rise, the stars sparkle like jewels in a Dwarven mine. No ball could offer a more beautiful sight.

“What are you doing?”

The voice came from behind Emma, and she pulled a knife as she turned, shifting into a crouch that would let her strike if necessary.

A boy about her own age held up both hands. He was lean with unruly dark hair and eyes that were dark with shadows. A sly smile curved his lips.

“You’re the princess. Princesses aren’t supposed to lurk on rooftops last I heard.”

Emma stiffened as her fingers tightened around her blade. “And you’re an expert in what princesses do, are you boy?” She tried not to wince at her own haughty tone, one that would get a dressing down from her father if he heard it.

The boy shrugged. “Can’t say I have much experience with princesses, but I know a bit about you.”

Silence stretched between them as the boy waited for Emma to ask what he knew, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. Finally, he muttered something that sounded like _stubborn_.

“I know you followed your father and his guards out when the fell beasts came down from the mountains to attack the farms in the foothills. And that you’re as good with a blade as some of the veterans he rode with.”

“My father taught me well.” Based on the arguments she’d overheard between her parents, her mother believed that her father taught her too well.

“My father taught me that there’s a fine line between courage and recklessness. Tell me, Princess Emma, do you know the difference?”

Emma’s eyes narrowed at the question, mostly because it was perilously close to what her mother would say. “Who are you, and what are you doing here? Are you a thief?”

The boy was silent for a time, though Emma heard his voice tremble when he spoke. “I am what my father made me, just as you are, Princess.” He waved her silent when she opened her mouth to answer him. “He has business here this evening, and I’m simply waiting until it’s done.”

“And just who is your father?” Emma couldn’t imagine the boy belonging to any of the families who had gathered for her sixteenth birthday celebration.

“That’s a question best left unanswered.”

When Emma brushed the hair that had blown into her face out of her eyes, the boy was gone.

###

Emma usually hated circulating at royal balls, but she didn’t believe there was a single person in the room she hadn’t greeted. There was no sign of the boy from the roof or of anyone who looked like they might be his kin. She started when an arm slipped through hers, and flushed slightly when she saw it was her mother.

Queen Snow smiled as brightly as the gems that sparkled in her tiara. As she leaned in to give Emma a hug, she whispered, “Did you have to be late tonight of all nights? This party is for you.”

“Then I can’t be late, can I? Everyone else was just early.” Emma regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.

Her mother pulled back slightly. “Oh, Emma, what am I going to do with you? You’re going to be queen one day. Like it or not, this is as much a part of ruling as anything else. You can’t just pick and choose what you enjoy and leave the rest to falter. Duty is just as important as desire, my darling.”

If her mother had sounded exasperated or angry, Emma would have had a quick barb ready to answer her. But Snow’s wistful tone had her swallowing around a tightness in her throat. “Sometimes it all feels so…stifling.” Emma thought about the bodice snugged around her torso, the full skirts of the gown that made dancing a chore and fighting impossible. Too many smiles for too many strangers.

To Emma’s surprise, her mother smiled, gently touched her cheek. “Ruling a land is a privilege. It’s a great joy and a great burden. But I have a strong and fearless daughter. She’s more than worthy of the challenge.”

“I hope I will be.”

“You already are.” Snow held on to Emma’s hands, stepping back to let her gaze run over her daughter before releasing her. “Now go enjoy your guests.”

###

Emma managed to give Lady Luri’s son a smile as their dance ended even though the oaf stepped on her feet more frequently than he did the dance floor. She was done with dancing and with the party. Had the crowded thinned or was that simply her wishful thinking? Would they notice if she slipped away?

A young man with curly ginger hair flashed Emma a smile and started toward her as the musicians began another song. Her frown clearly wasn’t doing anything to slow his approach.

“I believe this dance is mine.”

The touch on Emma’s shoulder was light, a brush of fingers against skin that was entirely too intimate. She turned to face the boy from the rooftop. His hair was still tousled, but he’d upgraded his wardrobe to a deep blue doublet that complemented her own gown perfectly.

Before she could object, he curled an arm around her waist, tugged her gently back onto the dance floor.

“I don’t recall agreeing to dance with you.”

He laughed softly. “But I know you wanted to. Or don’t you think you deserve a partner who can actually dance?”

Emma smiled despite herself. “Is that courage or recklessness speaking?”

“Maybe a bit of both. Emma.”

Emma arched an eyebrow at his familiarity. “Recklessness. Without a doubt.” She tilted her head to the side to study his face. His eyes were fixed on her. “And lacking in courtesy.” She smiled when he blinked. “I don’t believe you introduced yourself, sir.” She put the slightest emphasis on the title, entirely sure that it wasn’t one he deserved.

The boy hesitated for a moment before he said, “You can call me Bae.”

“Bae?” Emma’s brow furrowed. “No guest here has a son with that name.”

“None that was invited, no.”

“Are you mad?” One thing Emma learned from her mother was to keep her expression controlled because people were always watching. It was a talent she was grateful she possessed at the moment. “If the guards find out, you’ll be jailed.” Or worse.

Bae smiled, and Emma felt the warmth of it sink into her skin. “The risk was worth the reward.”

Her voice was little more than a whisper when Emma asked, “What reward?”

“This.” Bae’s arm tightened around her waist. “You, Emma.”

“Me?” Emma felt her cheeks flush. When she looked away from his gaze, Emma caught her parents out of the corner of her eye. They were watching them, talking, probably reaching the same conclusion Emma did that Bae didn’t belong. “You need to go.”

“Go?” Bae sounded confused and a bit hurt.

“No one is going anywhere.”

The words crackled in the air as the torches in the hall flickered and dimmed. When the light steadied a woman dressed all in black stood a few feet away from Emma. Her smile was cruel, mocking.

“Regina!”

Emma tensed, hand reaching for a sword she wasn’t carrying. She knew who Regina was, but her parents told her the sorceress was banished from their lands, no longer able to cause harm here or in any other world. Her father unsheathed his sword, positioned himself between her mother and Regina.

“Ah, Snow. No spell is so perfect it can’t be undone. Especially not a binding and banishment spell.” Regina stared daggers at the queen. “And right now, you’re both wishing you had the stomach to kill me when you had the chance. Or at least, you will be.”

“We’re not like you, Regina.”

Emma was proud of the steel in her mother’s voice. She’d heard tales of her mother’s exploits when Snow was younger, branded an outlaw in her own lands, but it was always hard for Emma to imagine her perfectly put-together mother as anything other than the queen.

Her father started down the stairs, sword at the ready. “This ends here. It ends today.”

Regina laughed, and a single, sweeping gesture from her threw the king and everyone else in the room back and off their feet. Everyone except for Emma.

Emma stiffened as Regina’s gaze turned to her.

“You’re just everyone’s darling, aren’t you? The same as your mother.” The contempt in Regina’s tone was sharp enough to cut. “The price they’re going to pay for their current happiness is their future joy.” Regina lunged forward, reaching for Emma, but Bae pushed her aside at the last moment. Regina’s hand sank into his chest, emerged with a glowing heart beating frantically in her hand.

Emma shook her head, murmured “no” over and over again.

“A brave gesture but, ultimately, a foolish one.” Regina’s fist closed around Bae’s heart.

His eyes went wide as he staggered a few steps back. His body jerked, knees buckled as he collapsed.

A feral cry shattered all the glass as a dark wind whipped through the ballroom, slammed into Regina, threw her back against a wall. Bae said his father was here, and he was obviously not a courtier.

Emma crawled over to Bae, touched his cheek. His sightless eyes were glassy, a thin thread of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. She gripped his shoulders, shook him. “Wake up, Bae.” There were sounds of stone cracking, bursts of lightning flashing through the hall, but Emma didn’t look up from Bae’s body. “Wake up.”

“ _Wake up!_ ”

###

_Emma, wake up…_

Emma sat up with a start. Her body tight with tension, coiled and ready to face an attack or to launch one. Her heart pounded, sweaty hair clung to her cheeks and neck. The light from the alarm clock’s display wasn’t able to brighten the pre-dawn gloom that blanketed the room.

Alarm clock? Emma swallowed, closed her eyes. _Storybrooke._ She was in Storybrooke. She glanced at the bed next to her. Neal hadn’t stirred, but his eyes were open, his gazed fixed on her. Neal was… Neal was alive.

“It’s okay, babe.” His voice was pitched soft, and he sat up slowly. “It was just a dream.” Emma’s eyes closed as he slipped his arms around her, tugged her against him. “Just a dream.”

Emma shook her head. “Not a dream. A nightmare.”

Neal nodded, kissed her temple, the line of her jaw. “Did you want to talk about it?”

“ _No._ ” The word came out more sharply than she intended, so she curled her arms around Neal, leaning into him, letting closeness heal some of the sting. If anyone would understand it was Neal. He struggled with as many demons as she did. He stroked her back until the tension bled out of her, until he was able to coax her back under the blankets. Emma was still awake when his breathing settled into the slow and even rhythm of sleep.

Today, she needed to see Gold, ask him to craft a charm for Neal that would guard him against Regina’s talent. Even though Regina said she was trying to change, to be good, Emma would never forget that Regina tore her heart out once before when she killed Graham. No matter what the cost, she wasn’t going to let the same thing happen to Neal.


End file.
